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(No Model.)

H. W. STEINER. SPOOL HOLDER.

Patented Aug. 6, 1889 No. 408,328. f

lmiliweooao UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

HENRY IV. STEINER, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GUS IV. ESOI-IENBACH, OF SAME PLACE.

SPOOL-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,328, dated. August 6, 1889.

Application filed January 22, 1889. Serial No. 297,125. (No model.)

'To all whom it may concern! Be it known that I, HENRY IV. STEINER, a citizen of the United States, residing atEaston, in the county of Northampton and State of 5 Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Spool-I-Iolders, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a spool-holder designed to hold the spool in knitting and sew- IO ing; and it consists in a certain novel construction and combination of devices, fully described hereinafter in cdnnection with the accompanying drawings, and specifically pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of the improved holder with a spool applied in the operative position thereto. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the holder, with the spool removed.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A designates a safety-pin,of the ordinary or any preferred shape, except that it is provided on its stationary side with an eye 13, and O designates a loop-shaped wire spring, which'is bent into an eye 0' at its closed end, said eye being loosely engaged in the eye B. The arms 0 c of the said spring stand in the same transverse longitudinal place, and are corrugated oppositely, being provided with a series of outwardly-extending bends D D, as shown clearly in the drawings. The width of the spring from the extremities of the bends on one side to the extremities of the bends on the other side is greater than the width of the opening or bore of the spool E, and, therefore, to insert the spring in the spool the arms 0 0 must be pressed together. \Vhen the spring is released, the outer ends of the corrugations or loops bear against the sides of the bore of the spool and hold the latter in position.

The operation 'of the improved spool-holder will be evident. The pin is engaged in the dress or some portion of the wearing-apparel of the operator, thereby preventing the spool from being mislaid and holding it within eonvenient reach of the operator, and different spools may be attached to the holder without removing the latter from its position as pinned on the dress. When the thread is'drawn from a spool, which is affixed to the improved holder, the latter does not rotate, and therefore does not cha'fe the dress of the operator; but the thread simply unco'ils or unwinds from the shank of the spool, its body sliding over and around the lower enlarged end thereof; It is obvious that when the pin A is secured to the dress of the user the holder will normally depend and hang downward loosely ,therefrom, whereby the free end of the spool is at the bottom. In this position the thread readily unwinds therefrom when the tatting, knitting, or other work is held near the lap of the user; but my improved device, by reason of its hinged connection with the eye B of the pin, possesses the advantage over devices of this character now upon the market, in that when the work is raised by the user to a position near her eyes, as for close inspection or in case she be nearsighted, the holder will turn on the eye, so that the free end of the spool will be uppermost. The thread will still unwind therefrom without difficulty and without necessitatin g the rotation of the spool, resultingin a wear of the users dress or involving a checking of the supply of thread, as would be the case if the pin and holder were integral or rigid.

The spool is held in place by the frictional contact between the arms of the spring and the bore of the spool, and to remove the spool it is simply drawn out forcibly.

Having thus described the invention, I claim The herein-described spool-holder, the same comprising the pin A, having an eye l3 in its lower stationary bar, and the loop-shaped wire spring 0, bent into an eye at its upper end, loosely engaging said eye B in the pin, side arms 0 c of said spring being oppositely corrugated and standing in the same plane, the whole adapted for use substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

I HENRY W. STIEINER. Witnesses:

. J NO. SToTznn,

Ovnns L. SoHLoBooH. 

